– CRIS CYBORG AND CUNG LE RETURN IN JUNE

by Damon Martin – MMAWeekly.com
As Strikeforce draws ever nearer to it’s April 17 date in Nashville, the promotion is already starting to forge ahead with plans for another major show in June that will feature a current champion and a former champion on the same card.

Another event, on May 15, has already been scheduled and announced for St. Louis. While the June card has not officially been released, it’s believed Strikeforce will put a show on late in the month at the HP Pavilion in its hometown of San Jose, Calif.

Two top fighters who will be featured on the June card are former middleweight champion Cung Le and current women’s 145-pound champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos.

Coming off a win over Marloes Coenen in her last fight, Cyborg had been rumored to face Erin Toughill for her next challenge, but it appears that fight is off the table. She will still fight in June against a different opponent.

“I don’t think it will be Erin Toughill, but I think we’ll have a good fight for her,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker on MMAWeekly Radio Wednesday night. “She will fight in June for her next Strikeforce fight.”

The other prominent name confirmed for the June show was popular San Jose based fighter Cung Le, who is looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career. He was knocked out in the third round by Scott Smith last December.

Le has been rumored for a rematch with Smith for the June show, but Coker alluded to another possible rematch for the former Strikeforce middleweight champion.

“Cung definitely wants to fight, and Scott Smith, there’s been some dialogue about that. I know Cung would really like to fight him, but you should have seen my lunch today. I had Frank Shamrock on my right, then Cung on my left, it was a really interesting conversation,” said Coker.

“The opponent’s not picked yet, but we’re definitely going to put something together that’s going to be exciting for Cung in June.”

Le took the middleweight belt, which he later vacated, from Shamrock’s when the two fought in early 2008.

The main event for the June show is still up in the air as top heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko is on the outside looking in, waiting for contract negotiations between his representatives at M-1 Global and Strikeforce to come to a close. If a deal is reached, Fedor is expected to face Fabricio Werdum in the top fight on that card.